Eskay Mining: Drill Results Including 5.1 Meters Grading 31.23 gpt Au and 138.1 gpt Ag and 4.1 Meters Grading 11.09 gpt Au and 44.2 gpt Ag Confirm Discovery of Two Precious Metal-Rich VMS Deposits for Eskay Mining

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / December 22, 2020 / Eskay Mining Corp. (“Eskay” or the “Company”) (TSXV:ESK)(OTC PINK:ESKYF)(FSE:KN7)(WKN:A0YDPM) is pleased to announce that it has confirmed discovery of two precious metal-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide (“VMS”) deposits at the TV and Jeff targets on joint venture ground held with Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (80% Eskay/20% Kirkland Lake Gold). Assays for 9 of 20 diamond drill holes (TV20-35, TV20-36, TV20-37, TV20-38, TV20-39, TV20-40, J20-31, J20-34 and J20-37) completed between August and October, 2020 are discussed in this news release. Importantly, all drill holes encountered significant Au and Ag intervals. Assays for the remaining 11 holes are expected back by late January, 2021.

Highlights and Summary:

• All drill holes assayed to date display one or more significant intervals of precious metal-rich VMS mineralization (Au eq = Au + Ag/72) with highlights including:
  • TV:
    • TV20-40: 29.92 m grading 3.5 gpt Au eq including 4.10 m grading 11.7 gpt Au eq and a second zone of 65.27 m grading 1.6 gpt Au eq
    • TV20-39: 40.74 m grading 1.8 gpt Au eq including 10.50 m grading 2.9 gpt Au eq
    • TV20-38: 20.53 m grading 2.4 gpt Au eq including 10.50 m grading 3.5 gpt Au eq
    • TV20-37: 17.46 m grading 3.3 gpt Au eq including 4.2 m grading 7.9 gpt Au eq and a second zone of 54.95 m grading 1 gpt Au eq
    • TV20-36: 32.83 m grading 2.3 gpt Au eq including 1.5 m grading 17.3 gpt Au eq
    • TV20-35: 15.00 m grading 2.2 gpt Au eq and a second zone of 16.33 m grading 3.2 gpt Au eq
  • Jeff:
    • J20-31: 24.55 m grading 2.0 gpt Au eq
    • J20-34: 5.08 m grading 33.1 gpt Au eq including 1.59 meters grading 83.4 gpt Au eq
    • J20-37: 7.66 m grading 4.6 gpt Au eq
• Figures 1, 2 and 3 show plan views of drill holes completed at TV and Jeff, and Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 provide cross sectional views of drill intercepts. True widths of mineralization vary between 50-100% of reported intercept lengths.

The TV and Jeff targets are approximately 1.8 km apart. Right now, the Company is interpreting these discoveries to be separate systems, but a recent SkyTEM geophysical survey suggests strong continuity of stratigraphy along this segment of the east limb of the Eskay Anticline. Therefore, it is conceivable that TV and Jeff are actually connected and part of a larger approximately 6 km long corridor along which numerous electrically conductive anomalies occur.

Mineralization encountered to date is predominantly of stratabound stockwork to massive sulphide replacement style hosted by mudstone and peperite sills (intrusive rocks) within the Hazelton Group, the same host rocks hosting the Eskay Creek Deposit approximately 13 km to the north. Intercepts that Eskay Mining has encountered in its drill program are remarkably similar in grade, thickness and style to those recently encountered in the Lower and Even Lower mudstone units drilled by Skeena Resources.

Both the TV and Jeff deposits are wide open along strike, down dip and up section. Key prospective stratigraphy including the mudstone that is host to high grade mineralization at Eskay Creek that is sandwiched between a footwall rhyolite and hanging wall basalt has yet to be drilled at TV and Jeff. This unit is hypothesized to be a short distance up section from the current drill holes making for a very intriguing untested target.

Eskay Mining is particularly excited by the presence of local bonanza grades of Au and Ag within recent drill intercepts suggesting the potential for discovery of high-grade mineralization similar to that mined historically at Eskay Creek. Several holes yet to be assayed displayed local intervals of silver rich minerals such as pyrargyrite and the native gold-silver alloy, electrum. Assays from these holes are eagerly awaited.

Eskay’s 2020 drill program is the first to be undertaken in this area since the early to mid-1990’s when a few scattered holes were drilled at these targets. This was at a time when the geology of the Eskay Creek deposit was not all that well understood. In July of this year, Eskay Mining’s team, led by Dr. John DeDecker and Dr. Thomas Monecke of the Colorado School of Mines, confirmed that TV and Jeff are indeed VMS systems similar to Eskay Creek and therefore designed the drill program to test them as such, including systematic evaluation of the host stratigraphy.

Interestingly, rock alteration associated with mineralization encountered to date is not as intense as that seen at the Eskay Creek deposit. Eskay Mining thinks this is possibly because its recent drill holes are situated in a distal part of the system. Therefore, there is good opportunity to vector in on the more intensely altered and higher grade part of the system. As mentioned above, bonanza Au and Ag grades encountered within some recent intercepts suggest potential for finding Eskay Creek type high-grade mineralization nearby.

These discoveries confirm the presence of new Eskay Creek type massive sulphide deposits within the highly propsective Eskay graben, or geologic trough, that extends southward from the Eskay Creek deposit. Approximtely 85% of this belt occurs within Eskay Mining’s tenure. In 2020, Eskay Mining has identified numerous other VMS targets on its tenure. The Company plans an aggressive +30,000 m drill program in 2021 to follow up on the TV and Jeff discoveries but to also test at least another dozen high priority drill targets.

“We are delighted to confirm the discovery of two precious metal-rich VMS systems,” commented Dr. Quinton Hennigh, director and technical advisor to Eskay Mining. “Once we saw that we had hit significant mineralization in our first drill hole at TV, the goal of the remainder of the 2020 drill program came into sharp focus, more aggressive drilling at the TV and nearby Jeff targets. It is remarkable that every hole assayed thus far reports one or more significant mineralized intercepts. We expect similar results from the remaining eleven holes to be assayed.

Although TV and Jeff are nearly 2 km apart, we see growing evidence these systems are connected and lie within a 6 km long highly prospective corridor of electrically conductive geophysical anomalies thought to be associated with sulphide mineralization. Given the large analogue, Skeena’s Eskay Creek deposit, a few km to the north, we are very excited by the potential at TV-Jeff. With approximately $15 million in the bank, we look forward to an aggressive drill program to follow up on these exciting discoveries and test a multitude of additional high priority VMS targets.”

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